i’m getting back into writing novels, does anyone have any advice for a good prologue? I wanna make a dystopian prose and I’m a bit lost.

So any tips would be appreciated

i'm an author with button poetry & can confirm they do lots of video work to promote their printed books -- happy to chat with anyone interested in learning more about them!

I guess my first question is... do you really need a prologue?

The big danger, I think, is that it turns into an info dump for stuff that could come out of the story organically.

Hello! My plan is to publish my work across up to 4 separate chapbook volumes over the next few years as I keep writing, assuming I can find interest from presses, probably around 9 pieces per manuscript in a 5x7.5 format. My pieces run well past the typical 3-minute mark, and the only reason I want video at all is as an optional QR reference track for rhythm, because folks at open mics have noted that hearing the work aloud brings a completely different energy to the words than reading them silently on the page. I do not have the details locked down yet on which poems go where, but the focus is definitely keeping the print book as the primary format rather than going video-first. Does this align with Button or are they more like looking for poetry that shines in video format like slam?

button definitely publishes print-first books, the videos are typically more of a supplemental marketing mechanism! they hold annual chapbook competitions, which is how they publish most of their books -- but i will note that 9 pieces is quite short for a chapbook, so length limits might be something to research.

My pieces range between 300 to 450 words. I chose nine based on what I understand would be enough content to fill in the average length chapbook which is 70 to 80 pages. It's an arbitrary number. I have 35 poems that are technically ready to be put in some form of print.

button’s chapbook guidelines ask for 20-30 pages! https://buttonpoetry.com/chapbook-contest-faq/#faq-chapbook

I mean I think it does. My story is dystopian, and I want my readers to understand why that dystopia came to be

Build it into the narrative if you can.

Consider that Cormac McCarthy never explains what ended the world in The Road and the story is stronger for it.

I’m not Cormack McCarthy though, like no offense I just don’t see myself as a reinventor of the system

If that makes sense

I think part of the fun of reading dystopian novels is learning about how the dystopia came to be as the novel progresses. To the main character living in the dystopia, that society is just normal everyday life for them, at least at first.

Might try a preview kind of scene? Similar to a scene in a movie trailer. No explicit explanations needed (unless you want to), but with a few subtle foreshadowing elements in the background for readers to pick up on later.

Hi! I’m currently working on my first puzzle zine and I’ve been thinking about making physical copies and mailing them out. For anyone who prints and mails their zines, how did you get started with it? Did you use a local printer or an online service? And how was the whole process when you were just starting out? I would also love any tips about making and putting out your first zine! 🙂

Anyone got recs on where to submit a nonfiction, silly and fun, flash piece with lots of sexual innuendos in reference to a garden? I'm struggling since it's nonfiction

Can’t speak for the prose side of the house, but possibly a Variant vibe? If it’s narrative, anyway.

I'm a zinester, but I'm tremendously old-school about it, it's a mix of printed materials and literally cut/paste physical media that I photocopy. I usually use the library (I consider the ten cents a page to be my charitable donation to an institution I adore), but sometimes stealth copy them at work. I fold and trim them at the library where I can use the paper guillotine, then bind them at home using an awl and embroidery thread if they're not one page minis. It's time consuming, but I see the entire process as an art form, rather than as a vehicle for writing.

I would say, don't worry overmuch about looking professional. The zine community is very punk-minded, and the DIY ethos comes through very strongly. Creativity wins over production value. Go to a few zine fairs and talk with vendors! There's so much diversity in the community, from comic artists (predominant in my town) to poets, anarchists, flash fiction, music/media reviewers, personal confessions, how-to creators, photographers, and more. Our local zine scene also includes a number of children, and I collect a lot of their work because it's hilarious and adorable. https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1098998616783327394/1556261256477016195/IMG-20260905-WA0002.jpg?backend=b2&ex=6ac384bd&is=6ac2333d&hm=167120775ed12c7e0099757d29e63312b177069ce008dc145423025008edb647&

(like the above corgi zines that were shared in our Little Free Zine Library)

@Paper Cranium (Kat) Thank you so much

Any thoughts on where to submit more formally metered and rhymed poetry? I was with my workshopping crew recently and someone said "I think this wants to be a pantoum." She was 100% right, so now it is! But it's also outside of my usual wheelhouse and I'm not sure who is on the lookout for the sort of thing.

There’s a small and insular ecosystem of journals that take a special interest in received form. Thinking about who’s open now or soon, Nimrod, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, The Dark Horse, New Verse Review (November), THINK, Blue Unicorn, Pulsebeat, The Road Not Taken, Poems for Persons of Interest. If you fw no sim subs, Autumn Sky, Allegro (December), and Able Muse (January). Rattle, Rust & Moth, and The Pierian are form-friendly generalists.

(There are certainly more, and they won’t be hard to find because they will appear over and over in bios in the aforementioned markets.)

Amazing, thank you so much!

I wasn't super familiar with pantoums before, but it feels like such a perfect little puzzle box of a form! I have a hunch this one won't be my last. 💚

Pantoums intrigue me so much! I've kept returning to them to play with, though I usually take a long time to finish them because, yeah, puzzle box. A couple similar ones I've found with a similar "interlocking" vibe are the duplex (quite new form, takes inspo from pantoum, I find them difficult) and terzanelle.

I've been researching chapbook-friendly publications for my in-progress MS, currently down to 28 pages -- to my chagrin, finding that most places that fit my criteria want 25 or fewer pages. I'll check Button out, as they hadn't come across my desk before, and if you know of any other reputable publishers in the up-to-30 range, I'd be happy to hear!